Egg feeding mechanism



c. K. POWELL 2,649,186

EGG FEEDING MECHANISM Original Filed March 24, 1949 Aug. 18, 1953 4Sheets-Sheet l &An 2

INVENTOR. g! CGW/FZZS K Pan 44 8, 1953 c. K. POWELL EGG FEEDINGMECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed March 24, 1949 INVENTOR.CAM/P055 K. Pan 44 WWK 9- ,OTTO/P/VES S Aug. 18, 1953 c. K..PQWELL EGGFEEDING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed March 24, 1949INVENTOR. 624F155 K. Pan 44 8" 1953 c. K. POWELL 2,649,186

EGG FEEDING MECHANISM Original Filed March 24, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 4Patented Aug. 18, 1953 EGG FEEDING MECHANISM Charles K. Powell,Washington, D. 0., assignor 150 Chestnut Farms-Chevy Chase DairyCompany, Washington, D. 0., a corporation of Delaware Originalapplication March 24, 1949, Serial N0. 83,279. Divided and thisapplication July 7,

1950, Serial No. 172,437

Claims.

The present invention relates to an improved mechanism for feeding eggsto a classifying or Weighingmachine or the like.

This application is a division of my earlier copending applicationSerial No. 83,279, filed March 24, 1949, now Patent No. 2,606,558.

The egg feeding mechanism of this invention is described, forillustrative purposes, in combination with an egg gradin machine forautomatically classifying eggs by weight. The particular machinedescribed includes (1) a feed section, (2) a weighing section and (3) adelivery section.

The feed section, which is designed to feed eggs in seriatim to theweighing section, comprises one or more channel members for advancingthe eggs, in a predetermined, aligned position, toward the weighingsection and a loading member to pick the eggs up individually andcooperate in loading the eggs onto the weighing elements. In thepreferred embodiment, the load ingmember is a rotatable wheel having apair of spaced disks and a plurality of longitudinal, resilient membersdefining a plurality of pockets and spaced between the disks.

The weighing section comprises a turntable supporting a plurality ofweighing assemblies, each of which includes a scale member which in turnsupports an element for pneumatically lifting an egg from the loadingmember. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the "lifting:element is in the form of an inverted cup member connected to a sourceof sub-atmospheric pressure and the scale member is in the form of abalance arm having an outer end for supporting the cup member. Camactuated means are provided to bring the cup members successively andindividually into positive engagement with eggs on the loading member.As the turntable turns upon its axis, after a given weighing assemblyhas lifted an eg off the loading member, said weighing assembly assumesa position of equilibrium depending upon the weight of the egg pickedup. Upon arrival over the delivery section of the machine, the weighingassembly engages one of several electrical contacts, the particularcontact engaged depending upon the equilibrium position assumed by theloaded weigh- 'ing mechanism, and consequently, upon the weight of theegg. As soon as such contact is made, the egg is released from the cupmember to be deposited in the delivery section of the machine.

The delivery section comprises a plurality of tracks to receive the eggsreleased from the weighing mechanisms, one track being disposed havebeen proposed heretofore for accomplishing similar results. One suchadvantage is its relative simplicity of construction. Another is thepositive means by which the eggs are loaded individually onto theweighing mechanism without subjecting the eggs .to undue pressure.

A single machine, constructed in accordance with the preferredembodiment particularly described herein, has been operated successfullyto classify eggs into five different weights at speeds up to 24 casesper hour.

These and other advantages, as well as the utility of the invention,will become more apparent from the following detailed description of onepreferred embodiment illustrated by way of example only in theaccompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of said preferred embodiment ofthemachine;

Figure 2 is a, plan View of the machine illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a detailed view, in elevation, taken along section line 3--3of FigureVZ;

Figure 4 is a schematic plan view in section taken along section line44l of Figure v1;

Figure v5 is a detailed view in elevation taken along section line '5-5of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a schematic view taken along section line E6 of Figure 2.

The various sections of the machine referred to previously will now eachbe described, together with driving mechanism for these sections, andthe operation of the machine.

The feed section The feed section, illustrated to best advantage inFigures 1, 2 and 4, generally includes a first channel member ill, asecond channel member 1 I and a loading wheel I2. The first channelmember i0 is pivotally supported at the rearward end by a support memberl4 fastened to the base of a journal member 15 mounted on a longitudinalframe member l6. The forward end of the second channel member II ispivotally supported at H by upright i=9. The forward end of the firstchannel member 1-0 and the adjoining end of the second channel member II are pivotally joined together by means of a pair of pins and aresupported by the hub 2i of pulley 22 which is provided with two setscrews 23 protruding from its periphery to give the adjoining ends ofchannel members I9 and II an intermittent, upwardly jarring motion.

The pulley 22, and a similar pulley 24, are fixed to a shaft 26supported in journals 21 and 29 mounted on longitudinal frame members I6and respectively for driving a pair of spaced and parallel A belts 3|passing over a pair of idler pulleys 32 to move the belts forwardly inthe channel member I0.

A third belt 34 is provided to move rearwardly in the bottom of thesecond channel member II. This belt 34 is driven by pulley 36 and istrained around idler pulleys 31, 39, and 49, pulley being mountedloosely on the shaft 26 between pulleys 22 and 24 and pulley 31 beingsupported for rotation by an adjustable upright 4I to permit propertensioning of the belt 34.

The loading wheel I2, illustrated in detail in Figure 5, is supportedfor rotation on a shaft 42 and comprises a pair of spaced disk members43 having a plurality of transverse inner and outer resilient memberssuch as coil springs 44 and 46 defining a plurality of pockets 41between the disk members 43 of the wheel. In the preferred embodiment,as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5,

The weighing section The weighing section, shown in Figures 1, 2 and 6,comprises a turntable having a plurality of holes 5I and supporting aplurality of egg weighing assemblies. The table 50 is mounted forrotation on a shaft 52. Each egg weighing assembly, only two of which,for convenience of illustration, are shown in Figure 6, includes abalance arm 54 provided with one or more counterweights 56, 51 and 59which may, if desired, be adjustable, a standard 69 mounted on the table50 to provide a fulcrum at 6! for the balance arm, an inverted suctioncup 62 supported by the outer end 64 of the balance arm, a solenoidoperated air valve 66 and a lever 61 having a forked end 69 operatedperiodically by engagement of a cam surface 10 on its other end with aroller II supported by a bracket 1Ia secured to the frame.

The inner end 12 of the balance arm 54 is further provided with acontact plate 14 and the standard 60 supporting the balance arm ispreferably provided with a threaded member 16 having an eccentric head11 for limiting the downward motion of the outer end 64 of the balancearm due to the weight of an extraordinarily heavy egg supported by thesuction cup 62.

A stationary conduit 19, connected to a source of subatmosphericpressure, is connected to a rotatable coupling 80 attached, by means offlanges 8| and 62, to the shaft 52 for supporting and rotating theturntable 50. The coupling 80 is tapped at 84 for connecting the sourceof subatmospheric pressure to the suction cup 62 by means of a flexibleconduit or hose 85 suspended by means of straps 86 or the like from theouter end 64 of balance arm 54. r A second flexible conduit or hose 81connects the suction cup 62 with the solenoid operated air valve 66having an air electrical contact elements 91, 99, I00, WI and I02. Saidcontact elements are positioned at rogressively lower elevationsrelative to the table and define, with the weighing assemblies, a numberof egg releasing positions indicated, in Figure 2, by the referencecharacters A, B, C, D and E applied to five balance arms 54, the contactplates 14 of which are momentarily in line with contact elements 91, 99,I00, IN and I02, respectively.

The delivery section The delivery section includes a plurality of tracksI04, I06, I01, I09 and H0 supported in a frame III below the level ofthe turntable 50. Each track is provided with a pair of endless beltsII2 movable forwardly, i. e., away from the turntable, over pulleys H4and H6 rotatable on shafts Ill and H8.

The driving mechanism and frame The power required to operate themachine may be obtained from any suitable source such as an electricmotor I20 mounted on a lower portion of the frame I2 I. Power istransmitted from the motor I20 to a vertical shaft I22 by Way of a gearbox I24, the shaft I22 having fixed thereto two pulleys I26 and I21. Thelower pulley I26 is connected to a pulley I29 on a vertical idler shaftI 30 by means of a belt I3I and the shaft 52 of the turntable 56 isdriven by means of a belt I32 connecting pulleys I34 and I36 on shaftsI30 and 52, respectively. The shaft 52 for the rotatable table 56 isfurther provided with bevel gear I31 mating with a second bevel gear I39on the inner end of shaft 42 for the loading wheel I2. This shaft 42,which is journaled in bearings I40 and MI mounted on frame members I42and I44, is in turn provided with a pulley I46 connected by means ofbelt I41 to a pulley I49 on the shaft 26 to drive the belts 3| in thefirst feed channel member I0. A third pulley I50 on the idler shaft I39is connected by means of a belt I5I to a pulley I52 mounted on the shaftI54 to drive the pulley 36 which drives the belt 34 movable rearwardlyin the second channel member I I.

The second pulley I21 on the vertical shaft I22 is connected to a pulleyI 55 on the shaft I I8 of the delivery tray by a belt I28 to drivepulleys I I6 and thereby advance belts II2 along the tracks I04,

I66, I91, I09 and H0.

The frame structure may be constructed in any suitable manner as canreadily be determined by those skilled in the art. Thus, for example,the electric motor I20 and gear box I24 is supported on a shelf I 60mounted on uprights I 6I, shaft I30 is journaled in bearings I62 securedto horizontal frame members I64 mounted on two of the uprights I6I,shaft 52 is journaled in bearings I66 secured to lateral frame membersI61, and shaft I54 is journaled in bearings I69 supported on bent framemembers I10. A shelf "I, having a rimmed edge I12, is provided below thelevel of turntable 50 to catch any eggs dropped prematurely or notlifted from the loading wheel I2. A pair of support members I14 fixed touprights I6I supports the shaft II8 which in turn supports rails I16between each pair of carrier belts I I2.

Operation In operation a plurality of eggs placed in or otherwiseconducted to the first channel'mem'ber III are advanced toward theloading wheel I2 by the pair of spaced belts 3!, the power for drivingsaid belts being transmitted from the motor I) by way of gear box I24,shaft I22, pulley I26, belt I3I, pulley I22, idler shaft I32, pulleyI34, belt I32, pulley I36, turntable shaft 52, bevel gears I37 and I39,shaft '42, pulleys I46, belt I41, pulley I49, shaft 25 and pulleys 22and 24. Any eggs in the forward end of channel member II] whose lon axesare not already disposed transversely of the channel are moved into thatposition by the combined action in channel member II, of (l) the eggsadvancing from channel member Iii, (2) the intermittent raising andlowering of the adjoining ends of channel members I0 and II, and (3) therearwardly moving belt 34 passing over idler pulleys 31, 39 and 4B anddriven by driving pulley 36 on shaft I54, which in turn .is driven bymeans of a belt I'3I connecting pulley I52 on idler shaft I and pulleyI52 on shaft I54. The intermittent jarring movement of the forward endof channel member IE3 and the adjoining end of The eggs are picked upindividually from the forward end of the channel member II by theloading wheel I2 which is rotated in a counterclockwise direction asseen in Figure l. A given egg rolls into a pocket 4I of the loadingwheel as defined by resilient members 44 and 46 and is carried upwardlyand forwardly in said pocket by the rotation of the loading Wheel, theloading wheel being turned in timed relation with the turntable 50 dueto the bevel gear connection I31 and I39 between shaft 52 for theturntable and shaft 42 for the loading wheel.

At approximately the moment an egg, supported in the loading wheel I2,reaches a position directly over the shaft 42, one of the suction cups62 supported by the turntable 50 will be positioned directly over theegg and the cam surface I0 at the inner end of the lever 61 will havebecome engaged by the roller II to depress the forked end 69 of thelever to thereby move the suction cup 62 into positive engagement withthe egg. Crushing of the egg is avoided without sacrificing positiveengagement thereof by the suction cup due to the resilience of the innerresilient members 44 of the loading Wheel I2 and uniform application ofthe force applied to the suction cup by the forked end 69 0f the lever'6! is assured by the relatively stiif disk member 92. As soon aspositive engagement has been made, the cam surface 72 passes over andout of engagement with the roller II and the egg is lifted off theloading wheel I2 by the weighing assembly due to the moment applied bycounterweights 55, 5! and 59 and the reduced pressure in the cup 62 dueto its connection, by way of hose 85 and coupling 80, to the conduit I9representing a source of sub-atmospheric pressure.

As the turntable 5G continues to turn on its shaft 52, the loadedweighing assembly assumes a position of equilibrium, said position beingdetermined by the weight of the egg with which it is loaded. Thus, forexample, a relatively light egg will cause the balance arm 5 to assume aposition of equilibrium such that the contact plate I4 at the inner endwill be relatively low. A heavier egg will cause it to assume a position:at which the contact plate I4 will 'be higher. An oversized egg may beheavy enough to cause engagement of the balance arm 54 with theeccentric head I?! and thus result in a maximum "elevation of thecontact plate I4. When the turntable 50 has made approximately a halfturn, the contact plate 74 on the inner end 12 of the balance arm 54makes contact with one of the plurality of stationary electric contactelements 91, 99, I00, I01 and I62, which are arranged at progressivelylower elevations relative to the turntable 50. The particular contactelement with which the contact plate 14 makes contact is determined bythe equilibrium position the balance arm 54 has assumed. As soon as suchcontact is made, the solenoid operated air valve '55 is actuated to openthe line 8I, connected to the suction cup 62, to the atmosphere by Wayof valve ports I39 and 98. The resultant increase in pressure within thesuction cup 62 causes the egg to be released and dropped upon one of theseveral pairs of endless belts .II2 moving forwardly in tracks I84, I08,I91, I89 and III! of the delivery section.

Thus, for example, if the egg is very light and the contact plate 14 istherefore at a low elevation, the contact plate will make contact withthe lowermost contact element I02 to release the egg over track I III. Amedium-size egg will have weight sufficient to elevate the contact plateI4 to the elevation of contact element Hill. When the turntable hasturned sufficiently to bring the contact plate and element into contact,the egg will be released over track IIII. When contact plate i4 israised to the mam'mum elevation, due to the weight of a heavy eggcarried by the suction cup 62, it makes contact with the first andhighest contact element 9! to release the egg over track I64.

The belts II2, which are supported by pulleys H4 and H6 mounted onshafts II! and H8, receive their power from motor I2ll by way of gearbox I24, shaft I22, pulley I21, belt I28 and shaft I I8, and operate toadvance the eggs for further processing such as candling, packing or thelike.

As soon as the egg has been released from the suction cup 62, thecounterweights 56, 51 and 59 on the balance arm 54 raise the suction cupand the centering cone I14 enters the hole 5| adjacent the periphery ofthe turntable 5|] to center the suction cup relative to said hole 5| andthereby places in the proper position for engagement with another eggwhen it reaches a point over loading wheel I2.

It is to be understood that numerous modifications and alterations willoccur to those skilled in the art upon reading this description. Allsuch modifications and alterations are intended to be included withinthe scope of this invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for classifying eggs by weight which includes a feedsection, a weighing section, and a delivery section, a feed sectioncomprising a first channel member, a pair of parallel belts movableforwardly in said channel member for advancing a plurality of eggs inseriatim, a rotatable loading wheel for delivering said eggs to theweighing section, said loading wheel comprising a pair of spaced disksand a plurality of transverse resilient member defining a plurality ofpockets and spaced between the disks to pick up and carry the eggsindividually, a second channel member extending from the forward end ofthe first channel member sub- 7 stantially'to the periphery of theloading wheel to convey eggs, in seriatim, to the loading wheel, and abelt movable rearwardly in the second channel member to position eggs insaid channel member with their longest axes transverse to the channelmember.

2. In a machine for classifying eggs by weight, the improvement whichcomprises a rotatable loading wheel for delivering eggs successively toa weighing mechanism, said loading wheel comprising a pair of spaceddisks and a plurality of transverse inner and outer resilient membersdefining a plurality of pockets and spaced between the disks to pick upand carry eggs individually.

3. An egg feeding mechanism comprising a rotatable loading wheel andconveyor means for advancing a plurality of eggs in seriatim to saidloading wheel, said loading wheel comprising a pair of spaced disks anda plurality of transverse inner and outer resilient members defining aplurality of pockets and spaced between the disks to pick up and carryeggs individually.

4. An egg feeding mechanism comprising a first channel member, a pair ofparallel belts movable forwardly in said channel member for advancing aplurality of eggs in seriatim, a rotatable loading wheel comprising apair of spaced disks and a plurality of transverse resilient membersdefining a plurality of pockets and spaced between the disks to pick upand carry the eggs individually, a second channel member extending fromthe forward end of the first channel member substantially to theperiphery of the loading wheel to convey eggs, in seriatim, to theloading wheel, and a belt movable rearwardly in the second channelmember to position eggs in said channel member with their longest axestransverse to the channel member.

5. An egg feeding mechanism comprising a pair of spaced disks having acommon axis of rotation and a plurality of transverse inner and outerresilient members spaced between the disks and defining a plurality ofpockets for the reception of eggs.

CHARLES K. POWELL.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,922,717 Smitt Aug. 15, 1933 2,443,188 Hodson June 14, 19482,471,479 Coons May 31, 1949 2,534,362 Magnusson Dec. 19, 1950

